


8. Problematic Conversations

by Amber_Flicker



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Gen, Pre-Slash, barry being awkward af
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-03
Updated: 2016-02-03
Packaged: 2018-05-18 00:59:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5892034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amber_Flicker/pseuds/Amber_Flicker
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Barry just wanted out of there, to go hide under a rock for a million years because this whole thing was awkward and he was tired and just didn’t know if he could handle this any longer.<br/>"Are you guys going to finish this heist so I can stop you or what?"</p>
            </blockquote>





	8. Problematic Conversations

His eyes blinked open as he pushed out of the haze of unconsciousness, mind taking a moment to catch up, to register someone touching him. He jerked away, not quite at super speed but close.

Lisa raised her hands placatingly, as if trying to communicate that she didn't mean any harm. Barry took in the three people above him. They all looked... concerned? That was surprising (well, maybe not from Cold, but he was writing freaking fanfiction of them and—no, no, don't think about that, shit!). They had been the ones shooting at him, after all, didn't they _want_ to hit him? He could feel his burnt skin already healing, though it still hurt like hell. He forced himself up anyway.

"Okay, let's just stop for a minute here," Lisa said, looking to Barry. "Are you drunk?"

"No!" Barry said indignantly. Where did that come from? "For the record, I _can't_ get drunk."

Mick's eyes widened. "How do you even live?"

"...I got over it. I wasn’t much of a drinker anyway."

"Are you sick, then?" Lisa questioned.

"Ugh, no. I'm just not at the top of my game today, alright? I'm... under a lot of stress." Which was true, this situation was extremely stressful; he hoped they didn't ask why.

"See?! You can't even have stress relief because you can't get drunk!"

"Are you still on about that?" Cold asked Mick. Barry had almost forgotten he was there too and fuck, he was blushing again, not that anyone could tell with the half-healed burns.

"It's an important detail."

"Will you two save your arguing for later?" Lisa said with an eye roll.

Barry just wanted out of there, to go hide under a rock for a million years because this whole thing was awkward and he was tired and just didn’t know if he could handle this any longer. "Are you guys going to finish this heist so I can stop you or what?"

The Rogues hesitated, still shaken from actually hurting Barry earlier. Surely they wouldn't drop the whole thing because of that? They'd done far worse before and gone right on stealing. They couldn’t care _that_ much.

"No, I think we're done here." 

The other two Rogues turned to give Cold confused (and maybe slightly relieved) looks and Barry sighed. 

"You're obviously not in any shape for fighting tonight—whatever the reason is. Not nearly as fun," Cold said, and Barry resisted the urge to just announce right there that he was NerdsDoItBetter. But he couldn't. 

Still, all that and they were just going to... leave? Not take anything? This night was so _weird._ Scratch that, his life was weird. He was drawing art and doing RPS of himself and Captain Cold... With the man himself. It didn’t get more ridiculous than that.

Barry didn't realize he'd lost himself in thought until he looked up and almost everyone was gone, Lisa just slipping out the door with a wink. He let them go, because what else was he supposed to do?

 

XXXXX

 

He wasn't surprised when he got a message from WithColdOnTop later that night. Barry tried to come up with a non-suspicious response, to sound calm and not as flustered as he was. He settled on something simple.

 

_Hey!_

 

_And what have you been up to tonight?_

Shit. Had he finally figured it out? No, that just seemed like a friendly question... If he had picked up on the hints he would have made some sort of allusion to it.

 

_Nothing much. Working on art, the usual, haha._

Aaand that sounded really awkward. Get a grip, Barry!

 

_Anything that would interest me?_

 

_Maybe ;)_

Thank god he was actually almost done with a picture, so it technically wasn't a lie…

 

_Can't wait. A pause, then another message. Any chance I could convince you to draw some more NSFW?_

Barry laughed at that, forgetting the situation for a minute.

 

_There might be..._ Then he remembered what was happening and groaned. He really needed to figure out a solution for this situation. And now he was back to trying to word his messages carefully. _I mean, probably not for a while._

 

_Hmm. A shame, really._

 

_I know, I know- sorry! I'm just not quite comfortable with it. So... Are you writing anything good?_

He hoped the question was convincing.

 

_Everything I write is good. But seriously, i'm working on a few things... Something inspired me tonight so lots of new fics are probably on the way._

Something... Barry had a good idea of what that something was.

 

_THAT'S GREAT!_ Shit, too enthusiastic. Tone it down, you're being suspicious. Get out of this before you do something you'll regret. _I mean, i'm excited, obviously._

_Sorry, Top, i've gotta run._

He didn't realize the pun he'd accidentally made until after he sent it. He cursed, but there was nothing he could do. It didn't matter anyway—Cold hadn't gotten any of his hints before, why would he start now?

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so. Honestly I feel like this is the worst chapter in the whole thing, but that's probably me being overdramatic about disliking my own writing. 
> 
> This was a fun thing to be a part of, I didn't think I'd ever manage to get into a team writing thing, much less only a couple months after I started writing for this fandom. Now shoo, quit reading my stupid notes and finish this amazing story.


End file.
